Shoulder pad hanger assembly

ABSTRACT

A hanger assembly for orderly storage of athletic gear, such as football shoulder pads, including a plurality of longitudinally interlocking hanger bars each having a hook at an upper end and bifurcated lower end having lateral holes in the forked portions of such end. A horizontal rod is inserted through the lateral holes of each bar with equal portions of the rod extending on opposite sides of each bar to support a shoulder pad. The hook at the upper end of each bar hangs on the horizontal rod between the bifurcated members of each next succeeding upper bar forming an articulated elongated hanger assembly having a plurality of vertically spaced horizontal rods for shoulder pad support.

United States Patent [191 Davis et al. Apr. 9, 1974 SHOULDER PAD HANGER ASSEMBLY Prirnary ExaminerRamon S. Britts [76] Inventors: Donald w. Davis, 326 NE. 10th $1.; Age, Mathews Garland Virgil J. Barnes, 721 NW. 16th St., both of Grand Prairie, Tex. 75050 [57] ABSTRACT [22] Filed: Aug 1972 A hanger assembly for orderly storage of athletic gear, [21] App]. Nof: 277,639 such as football shoulder pads, including a plurality of longitudinally interlocking hanger bars each having a hook at an upper end and bifurcated lower end having [22] $8.81. lateral holes in the forked portions ofsuch end A hop d 113 izontal rod is inserted through the lateral holes of each 1 1e 0 6 159, bar with equal portions of the rod extending on opposite sides of each bar to support a shoulder pad. The

hook at the upper end of each bar hangs on the hori- [56] References Cited zontal rod between the bifurcated members of each UNITED STATES PATENTS next succeeding upper bar forming an articulated 2,488,582 11/1949 Cinamon 211/113 elongated hanger assembly having a plurality of verti- 1,611,397 12/1926 Wells 21.1/113 x ally paced horizontal rods for shoulder pad support. 1,873,039 8/1932 Robinson et a1 248/340 x 2 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures SHOULDER PAD HANGER ASSEMBLY This invention relates to storage hanger apparatus and more particularly relates to an assembly for the orderly storage of athletic apparatus, such as football shoulder pads.

Athletic gear designed to-t'it the human body for protection purposes during the conduct of athletic events comes in a large variety of sizes, shapes, materials, and combinations of materials. The storage of such apparatus both between uses in season and during off-season presents a number of serious problems. The irregular shapes and varying material characteristics ofsuch apparel as football shoulder pads makes uniform stacking essentially impossible. Thus, if such pads are stacked, the general result is that some portions of the pads often are warped out of shape during storage. Additionally, in stacking, due to the irregularity of shape and inability to form uniform stacks, unnecessary amounts of space are required. Retrieval of a particular set of pads is difficult without going through a large number, particularly if the desired pad is in the lower part of a stack. Such apparatus tendsto collect moisture'especially during use when players perspire a great deal and such moisture should be permitted to evaporate from the pads. Stacking of the pads in large numbers tends to deter evaporation and cause damaging mold and other destructive effects. So far as presently known, there are'no available hangers for the orderly storage of such pads to provide them with ventilation, to make them readily retrieved individually, and to require a minimum of space.

It is a particularly important object of the invention to provide new and improved storage hanger apparatus.

It is another object of the invention to provide apparatus forthe storageof athletic apparel, such, particularly,-as football pads and the like.

It is another object of the invention to provide apparatus for the storage of football shoulder pads which provides them with adequate ventilation. It is another object of the invention to provide apparatus for the storage of football shoulder pads which supports each pad individually thereby minimizing possible damage to each set of pads.

It is another object of the invention to provide apparatus of the character described which permits ready retrieval of any individual set of pads without sorting it out from all of the other pads in storage or moving a number of the other pads.

It is another object of the invention to provide apparatus for storage of football 'pads by hanging them in vertically spaced relationship.

It is another object of the invention to provide apparatus for the storage of football shoulder pads which is readily adjustable to accommodate the apparatus to any available vertical space.

It is another object of the invention to provide a hanger assembly for football shoulder pads which comprises an articulated vertical apparatus having a plurality of vertically spaced horizontal support bars.

lt is another object of the invention to provide a football shoulder-pad assembly which comprises a minimum number of different types of component parts.

It is'another object of the invention to provide a football shoulder pad assembly which may be constructed of metal, plastic, or any other material having adequate strength and readily formed into the required shapes.

1 In accordance with the invention there is provided a hanger assembly for athletic apparatus such, particularly, as football shoulder pads which'includes a plurality of interconnected, longitudinally extending hanger bars coupled together by spaced lateral rods which support the shoulder pads in vertically spaced relation. Each of the hanger bars has a hook shaped upper end and a bifurcated lower end provided with lateral holes through which a horizontal rod is inserted. Each rod at the center portion supports the hook of the next hanger bar downwardly in the assembly, while the lateral outwardly extending rod portions on either side of the hanger bar provide support for a shoulder pad. The hanger assembly provides an articulated unit which is adjustable in length and may be supported from a hook and permitted'to extend downwardly.

The foregoing objects and advantages will be better understood from 'the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

, FIG. 1 is a front view in elevation of a football shoulder pad hanger assembly embodying the invention showing a set of shoulder pads in phantom lines on one of the hanger rods;

FIG. 2 is a side view in elevation of the hanger assem-- bly only of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of one of the hanger bars of the assembly;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged broken perspective view'ofone of the hanger rods used in the assembly; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view in section and elevation along the line 5-5 of FIG. 1'.

Referring to the drawings, a football shoulder pad hanger assembly l0 embodying the invention includes a plurality of identical hanger bars 11 coupled together in interlocked, generally vertical, articulated relationship by spaced horizontal rods 12. Each of the hanger bars 11 comprises a channel shaped member having a central longitudinal plate 11a and spaced longitudinal side flanges 13, all of which are bent together along one end to form an upper end hook portion 14 which is provided with a downwardly'slopingslot 15. The upper end'portion 14-of each of the hanger bars is formed in the shape of a hook so that the bars may be supported in a vertical, hanging or pendant relationship from a rod-like member extending through the slot 15. The lower bifurcated end portion of the central plate 12 of the hanger bar has a vertical, downwardly opening slot 20 defining a pair'of laterally'spaced leg portions 21. Each of the leg portions 21 has a round opening 22 spaced upwardly along the leg portion from the lower end of the han-ger'bar. Each hangerrod 12 is provided for interconnecting adjacent pairs'of the hanger bars and for supporting a shoulder pad 40 as illustrated in phantom lines-in FIG. I.

The shoulder pad hanger assembly 10 is readily installed in any available vertical space and is adjusted to the available height of the space in accordance with the number of the hanger bars 11 required to extend downwardly in the space, such as between the ceiling and the floor of a storage room. The uppermost or top hanger bar 11 is supported from any suitable hook or rod, not shown, which will fit in the slot 15 in the upper hook portion 14 of the hanger bar. A hanger rod 12 is then inserted horizontally through the lateral holes 22 in the legs 21 of the lower bifuracted end portion of the hanger bar. The rod is adjusted so that the center of the rod is located along the center line of the hanger bar 11 between the legs 21 with equal portions 12a of the rod projecting horizontally outwardly on opposite sides of the hanger bar. A second hanger bar 11 is then coupled with the first top hanger bar by inserting the upper hook portion 14 of the second hanger bar into the space defined between the legs 21 and in the slot of the first hanger bar hooking the end portion of the second hanger bar over the central portion of the rod 12 between the first hanger bar legs. The central portion of the rod is received in the downwardly slanted slot 15 of the second hanger bar so that the second hanger bar is suspended in interlocking relationship from the rod supported by the first hanger bar. A second rod 12 is inserted through the lower end portion of the second hanger bar and a third hanger bar 1 1 is hooked over the second rod within'the bifurcated lower end portion of the second hanger bar. As many of the hanger bars and rods may be coupled together as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 as desired or as required to fill the space between the floor and ceiling of a storage room.

Each of the vertically spaced horizontal rods 12 provides support for the shoulder pads 40 as represented in FIG. 1. One set of pads is placed over each of the rods as illustrated with the side portions 12a of the rods extending under the top outside portions of the pads to support the pads in the horizontal hanging relationship illustrated. The coupling between the hanger bars and the rod is located in the neck area of the pad set. One set of pads is placed on each of the rods in the hanger assembly. The hanger assembly is thus an articulated unit which is extendable the full distance from a ceiling to a floor in an enclosure and includes the vertically spaced shoulder pad support rods 12. Each of the pads is thus supported in a separate, spaced relationship'so that is is readily retrieved from storage and is fully ventilated as air can pass completely around the pad and within it due to the open support provided by the rod end portions extending within the pads as shown. The set of pads is supported in a somewhat open condition. The hanger assembly may be quickly installed and is readily dismantled when not needed. The slender shape of both the hanger bars 11 and hanger rods 12 permits storage of the components of the hanger assembly itself have sufficient structure strength. It will be recognized that other types of shoulder pads and other athletic apparel may be stored on the assembly.

What is claimed is:

1. An articulated hanger assembly for supporting articles in longitudinally spaced relation comprising: a

plurality of hanger bars coupled together at adjacent ends, each of said hanger bars being an elongated memher having a first end portion provided with a hook adapted to engage a central portion of a hanger rod and a second bifurcated end portion adapted to engage a central portion of a hanger rod on opposite sides of said hook end portion of an adjacent one of said hanger bars connected with said rod; and a plurality of article hanger rods, each extending substantially horizontally through and interconnecting said adjacent ends of separate pairs of said hanger bars, each set of said adjacent ends including a first hook end portion of one of said hanger bars and a second bifurcated end portion of another adjacent one of said hanger bars, each of said rods projecting outwardly on opposite sides of said interconnecting ends of said hanger bars for supporting one of said articles on each of said bars, said bars being in longitudinally spaced relationship along the length of said hanger assembly.

2. A hanger assembly in accordance with claim 1 wherein each of said hanger bars comprises a channel shaped member having a longitudinal central plate and longitudinal side flanges bent together and slotted along said first end portion providing a hook on said member for engagement with said hanger rod and said central plate portion having an endwardly opening longitudinal slot along said second end portion providing a bifurcated end comprising a pair of spaced legs, said legs having aligned openings therethrough for said hanger rod. 

1. An articulated hanger assembly for supporting articles in longitudinally spaced relation comprising: a plurality of hanger bars coupled together at adjacent ends, each of said hanger bars being an elongated member having a first end portion provided with a hook adapted to engage a central portion of a hanger rod and a second bifurcated end portion adapted to engage a central portion of a hanger rod on opposite sides of said hook end portion of an adjacent one of said hanger bars connected with said rod; and a plurality of article hanger rods, each extending substantially horizontally through and interconnecting said adjacent ends of separate pairs of said hanger bars, each set of said adjacent ends including a first hook end portion of one of said hanger bars and a second bifurcated end portion of another adjacent one of said hanger bars, each of said rods projecting outwardly on opposite sides of said interconnecting eNds of said hanger bars for supporting one of said articles on each of said bars, said bars being in longitudinally spaced relationship along the length of said hanger assembly.
 2. A hanger assembly in accordance with claim 1 wherein each of said hanger bars comprises a channel shaped member having a longitudinal central plate and longitudinal side flanges bent together and slotted along said first end portion providing a hook on said member for engagement with said hanger rod and said central plate portion having an endwardly opening longitudinal slot along said second end portion providing a bifurcated end comprising a pair of spaced legs, said legs having aligned openings therethrough for said hanger rod. 